This invention relates to oxidizers and more particularly to liquid oxidizers for explosives and propellants.
Many factors such as cost, energy, safety characteristics, physical properties, and chemical properties are involved in the determination of an appropriate liquid oxidizer for explosive and propellant compositions. The objective is to balance those factors and intended results so that the liquid oxidizer can be mixed with materials to form explosive or propellant compositions and achieve the desired results. Cost and adverse safety characteristics of the ingredients in explosive or propellant compositions is usually directly proportional to the energy of the system. However, it is desirable to minimize the impact of these factors and maximize the energy of the compositions.
The most effective liquid oxidizer presently used in the propellant compositions is inhibited, red, fuming, nitric acid (IRFNA), which produces excellent energy and performance as a component of the propellant compositions. However, IRFNA is very toxic and extremely corrosive, which increases the cost of the systems hardware in which it is used; IRFNA's corrosiveness has resulted in system leakage causing damage to the weapons or other systems and personnel injures.